Charles Rangel: “This morning I was pleased to see that the Conference of Catholic Bishops has organized in order to influence Washington…”

“This morning I was pleased to see that the Conference of Catholic Bishops has organized in order to influence Washington as it relates to the question of same-sex marriage and abortion. I think that we all agree that these are moral issues and under our country's freedom of speech, the churches, the synagogues, the temples, have a right and, indeed, in their case, an obligation to speak out on the actions of Congress that they disapprove of morally. I hope that this is a signal to other religious institutions that what this country is going through is not only a financial crisis, but a moral crisis. And perhaps the other religions might broaden their agenda to talk about what I truly believe is a priority and concern of every religion, and that is a deep-seated moral obligation to take care of the vulnerable in our society. Whether it's the lesser of our brothers and sisters, whether it's the sick and the aged, there's something about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, about having a home and a job that to me has something that involves a moral obligation. {time} 1040 When a great country like the United States, a beacon for people to come to from all over the world in order to be successful, finds itself with so much of our national wealth being concentrated in the hands of so few people, never before has this happened in history, where we find more and more children and adults going into poverty in historic numbers.…”